Sushi 9

FOOD

Salmon sashimi is a strong starting point for an AYCE dinner at Sushi 9. Sashimi is sliced fish served without sushi rice, so the salmon itself supplies the substance of the order. Its natural richness gives it a different balance from a roll, where rice, seaweed, fillings and toppings share each bite. That distinction is part of the pleasure of having both within one meal: the sashimi offers a direct fish course, with the more elaborate combinations providing another way to enjoy sushi.

The Fort Bend roll combines tuna, salmon and avocado, topped with pepper tuna, green onion and sriracha. Fish appears both inside and on top, with avocado adding creaminess and sriracha contributing chili heat. Green onion gives the combination a sharper edge. It is a fish-focused specialty roll whose listed ingredients leave out the shrimp tempura and cream cheese found in several of the restaurant’s other combinations. The local name is a welcome detail, and the tuna-and-salmon combination gives it more substance than a memorable name alone.

Crab puffs bring a cooked appetizer to that sashimi-and-roll order. In the familiar fried-wonton style, the appeal is the contrast between a wrapper and a softer filling, a different texture from sliced fish or rice. They are a useful reminder that the kitchen matters to a sushi meal too. A cooked starter can hold its own alongside the fish, particularly at a table where some people are enthusiastic about sashimi and others would rather begin with an appetizer.

The restaurant also has an individually priced menu, which gives a broader picture of its cooking without establishing that every dish is included in AYCE. That wider menu lists yellowtail sashimi, yellowtail with jalapeño, shrimp sushi and crabmeat sushi. Yellowtail is the fish commonly listed as hamachi on Japanese menus, while the jalapeño version pairs it with pepper. The named shrimp and crabmeat pieces add other seafood possibilities within the restaurant’s sushi repertoire.

The namesake Sushi 9 Roll takes a more layered approach on that broader menu. Shrimp tempura, cucumber and cream cheese go inside, with salmon, avocado, spicy mayo, eel sauce and tobiko on top. Shaggy Dog also uses shrimp tempura and avocado, but its topping is crab stick with spicy mayo and eel sauce. Tempura means battered, fried shrimp here, while tobiko is flying-fish roe. Those details help explain the namesake roll’s combination of a cooked filling with fish and sauces on top.

The kitchen section of that broader menu includes gyoza, offered steamed or pan-fried, plus shrimp tempura, fried rice and noodle dishes. Steaming and pan-frying give dumplings different finishes: the former keeps the wrapper soft, while the latter browns the surface against the pan. The rice and noodle categories offer a more substantial cooked entrée than an appetizer order of dumplings.